Bleeding Yankee Blue: LUCKY 7! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BYB!

Thursday, September 14, 2017

LUCKY 7! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BYB!

“I love you guys! The greatest Yankee site I've ever read! It's in my bookmarks!"

--BYB Reader

I woke up looking at my clock today. 6:35am... and September 14th. I literally stared at it for a moment. I felt like I had something to do today, my mind was a fog. I got up, grabbed my clothes and hit the shower. Then I remembered... today's BYB's 7th birthday. I cannot believe it.

It's an amazing thing when you think about it. Some of our readers have literally been with us since the beginning, and they're still here. But luckily for us, they aren't just readers now... they are our friends these days. They root us on, support us, share us and wear us.

We have newcomers coming in once in a while. They ask questions, sometimes they hate because they just don't understand what we do here on Bleeding Yankee Blue. A lot of times they just come into our site and expect us to spew our opinions and to hell with everyone else.

Never been the case here... and once they recognize that... the banter starts and relationships form. We are here for the fans... we're not here to try and be right. Opinion matters... all of it, and that is what I have put together here.

My writers are tops. No one better in the blog community and the reason why I know that is because readers tell us, like... almost every day. I love that. It gives me chills, because what started as a toy for me and my friends really became an appointment for all of you.

You look for the latest from Suzie Pinstripe or Jeana Bellezza. You like to hear the harsh and sometimes true opinions of Barry Millman. You enjoy Michael Carnesi and always want check in on Mike O'Hara, because, well... he's Mike O'Hara, and while he's not writing a ton these days, trust me, he is still a vital piece of the BYB community.

BYB is 7 because you guys didn't give up on us. Through our rough patches... through the times where we were rolling and readership was up. Some how, some way we did it our way and gained success. Remember, I know nothing about the Internet. I learned. I started this blog on September 10, 2014 with not a clue in the world of how it worked. But I did like to see that people checked in on my opinions. Next thing you know, I did another story, and it happened again. And then more readers, and suddenly I was on my way. These days, we are on our way.

It's been quite flattering and amazing actually. We have interviewed top Yankees, top YES network talent, and for me personally, there are big time people in my own life that I have always admired and always wanted to meet, and over time, through this "train that could" of BYB... I was able to shake their hand in person and let them know face to face that I admire them. It's quite wonderful. It proves something very significant to me; while not as big as Beacher Report at this very moment... we're huge among the grassroots and loved by many of our readers. Not only that, we are respected.

Photo: Bergen Record's Pete Caldera

Respect is a powerful thing. It's that thing that lets me know that there's a stature that now comes with BYB. Guys like Jack Curry and Bob Lorenz and Nancy Newman and Pete Caldera and Bryan Hoch follow us. They like to read and sometimes laugh, but they can dig in on our "fan anaylsis" as well. Again, we're honest, and I think that's refreshing. It's real. It's very real.

Thank you.

I mean that from the bottom of my heart. As I write this I get emotional. You are the reason we write this blog every single day. You are the reason we wake up early or stay up way to late. You like our product, and we love that you love it. That means we have connected.

I was told so many times that this was "stupid". "Why would you have such an ugly blog with a family underlining message. IT'S ABOUT THE YANKEES! Don't insert yourself!" True email by the way who no longer writes me. And to respond here publically... Why? Well, because the Yankees ARE family, and if you see baseball and life as being very similar, you will understand the universe. I swear to God. Baseball and life share the same highs and lows, and if you understand the stepping stones, you will get it. And while BYB didn't start that way, there is no question that this is what we have evolved into.

Vintage photo of Marci Hensley, mother of Ty Hensley

Family. That's us, folks. 7 years on the map is no joke, and it's a perfect combination of timing for us here at BYB. My writers have come and gone, but the ones that left still support us, and we have very solid friendships. The writers we have now are bonding like crazy with our readers. I have regular pow-wows with my own writers. I answer questions, have done seminars for Suzie Pinstripe, made speeches for small groups of bloggers that want to know the "secrets". Here's the secret, folks... be honest, be nice and work hard. That's what my writers do here. If you can't do that, good luck. That's the formula, write it down.

I leave you all with this, a story I wrote in 2014 that will forever stay close to my heart. It's titled I THINK WE HAVE BLEEDING YANKEE BLUE FANS NOW! Here's a portion of it:

" Recently I was out with a friend of mine and we literally ran into a guy wearing a Bleeding Yankee Blue “What’s your blood type?” Shirt on the streets of Manhattan.

I nudged my buddy and pointed over at the guy.

“Holy Shit, go tell him who you are?”

“No. What the hell does that even mean?” I said.

“Do it, I want to see his face!” Now look, I’ve known this guy for 20 years. He’s a ball buster and a trouble maker and I should have dropped him a long time ago. But he’s a loyal friend and so, we see each other once in a while.

Anyway, I refused make a scene. Besides, it's more gratifying for me to see you guys wearing my BYB stuff and me sitting back and enjoying it. I’m a regular dude with a regular life and I don’t need the fanfare. I do however, appreciate you wearing us and supporting us.

As the guy was buying a pretzel, my buddy went over to him. “Where’d you get that shirt?”

“BleedingYankeeBlue.com!" He rattled it off the tongue like he knew it was coming. “I gotta get me one of those”, my buddy said with a smirk. The guy turned around quickly. “You can’t get this shirt anymore. I’ve been reading them for years. It’s vintage now.” He started to laugh. My pal, always the jokster, laughed harder, and patted him on the back like they'd known each other for life. They looked like 2 old friends or something. “See that guy," he pointed at me, "He’s Casey.”
“Crap”, I said under my breath smiling. I knew it was coming.

“Get the F**k outta here!” The man walked over to me. There was pretzel mustard in his mustache. He was happy to see me.

“Are you F**king with me right now?”

“No, it’s me," I said, "Nice shirt!” We shook hands.

“I love you guys! The greatest Yankee site I've ever read! It's in my bookmarks," he said."

My fondest day as the BYB Chief. And today's a happier one. Happy 7th birthday to Bleeding Yankee Blue. A special thanks to my writers who never quit on me or you... and a huge thank you to our readers who read us, share us and wear us... and most importantly... talk to us about what we've written every single day.

You guys made this. We appreciate you dearly.

Thank you. God Bless.